Having a low price budget, my search for my first ham radio to buy has led me towards Baofeng. A quick Google search on baofeng showed a lot of results that said that certain model baofeng handhelds are illegal in the US. Is that true?
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asked May 5, 2020 at 13:34
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$\begingroup$ Can we assume that you are referring to the UV-5RV2+ or a similar model? That's what we have. $\endgroup$– Mike WatersCommented May 5, 2020 at 15:18
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$\begingroup$ Since you mentioned a budget, I strongly suggest that you include the cost of the accessories such as the genuine Baofeng programming cable and the charger. $\endgroup$– Mike WatersCommented May 5, 2020 at 15:54
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$\begingroup$ It isn't just that the model that could be illegal; it's reportedly a large percentage of devices sold, due to manufacturing (or other) variations. You might need to test your particular purchase, and either return the unit, if possible, and/or use a suitable bandpass filter on the output. $\endgroup$– hotpaw2Commented May 6, 2020 at 1:35
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4 Answers
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They are legal to use, but only on the amateur bands. (Of course, you'll need to get a license first).
There was a lot of debate on whether they were legal, but the FCC finally stated that they were. Thus the older search results you found, such as this one.
Since they are not type-accepted, they are not legal to use on other bands such as FRS, GMRS, etc.
answered May 5, 2020 at 15:12
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3$\begingroup$ Most Baofengs are Part 90 type accepted, so they are legal for use on business bands (with the appropriate license, of course) as well as ham use. $\endgroup$– MoTLDCommented May 5, 2020 at 15:19
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$\begingroup$ @MoTLD Thank you, I think you're right. They were originally made for business use, and were mass produced in very large quantities. That's why they are so cheap. $\endgroup$ Commented May 5, 2020 at 15:26
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$\begingroup$ @MikeWaters Thanks $\endgroup$ Commented May 5, 2020 at 15:47
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2023 Update:
Since I wrote this answer, there's been quite a bit of FCC enforcement (on importers, not amateurs), and as a result, most new Baofeng radios sold for amateur use in the US in the past few years have adequate filtering, and comply with the Part 97 standards. (They also don't accept being programmed for non-amateur frequencies). While there are still a lot of bad radios out there, the situation isn't quite as bleak as I originally stated, and it's no longer true that any given Baofeng is probably illegal to operate.
Original answer preserved below:
The ARRL runs a booth at Dayton Hamvention since 2012 where people can submit their HTs to be tested for spectral purity. Over the years 2016-2019, 100% of the Alinco, Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu HTs they tested were compliant with the standards laid out in Section 97.307. Only 7.5% of the Baofeng HTs they tested were compliant, with 27% being "borderline" (violating the limits by less than 3dB) and the remaining two thirds being more than 3dB out of spec (Source: QST January 2020, pp. 60-61).
Amateur equipment isn't type-certified; the operator is responsible for the compliance of their equipment. With a fairly reliable source showing 92.5% of Baofeng HTs in the wild failing to meet the standards of Part 97, anyone without access to a calibrated spectral analyzer can reasonably assume that any given Baofeng is not legal to use on the amateur bands.
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2$\begingroup$ Can you cite a source for these numbers? I remember reading the article and it was more like 50% were compliant and 20% were marginal, making about 1/3 non-compliant rather than the other way around. Also, teh trend was that they were improving. $\endgroup$ Commented May 6, 2020 at 14:26
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2$\begingroup$ @user10489 I did cite my source. But for convenience I've included the table from the cited article in my post. My working is a simple weighted average across the three years represented. And no, they're not getting better. $\endgroup$ Commented May 6, 2020 at 18:56
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1$\begingroup$ To be more clear, the total number of tested Baofengs across the three years was 241 (108 + 88 + 45), and the total number compliant was 18 (9% of 108 + 5% of 88 + 9% of 45). 18 / 241 = 7.5%. $\endgroup$ Commented May 6, 2020 at 19:06
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2$\begingroup$ @user10489 I did, specifically, from the beginning, give a page number in an issue. $\endgroup$ Commented May 7, 2020 at 0:28
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2$\begingroup$ @MikeWaters the article just says that they recorded the power of the worst spur or harmonic, nothing specific on what that was. I suppose the people who operated the analyzer know :) $\endgroup$ Commented May 7, 2020 at 19:22
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Since one aspect of amateur radio is "home brew" ... anything that transmits a "suitable signal" in an amateur band operated by a licensed amateur radio operator, is legal. The key part of the "suitable signal" is power level and spurious signal levels, and includes permitted modulations in the portion of the band wherein the transmission occurs.
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They are legal as long as you stay within the amateur bands.
